Real Life Mario Kart

Well this week was pretty normal and calm, but there were a couple of pretty exciting or crazy things.  One happened when we were on our way to play basketball today, and we were traveling in what is known as a "combi", or a big, white transportation van.  Well the combi got in a little fender bender with another taxi and the taxi driver got really mad and was blocking the combi in and wouldn´t let him out. Then the combi just decided (since it was carrying people for public transport) to force its way through and basically just pushed the smaller taxi out of the way leaving a pretty decent sized dent.  The combi driver had to get in an emergency lane that is only used for policeman, ambulances, and "mexi buses" or in other words, it was not supposed to be there, and the taxi driver got right over next to it, so it could not leave the emergency lane.  Well the combi driver all of the sudden turned into a NASCAR racer, or maybe he was an actor in fast and furious, because he went full throttle and was just RACING to lose this taxi... It might have been one of the top 5 most loco experiences I´ve had in Mexico and there were plenty of swear words flying around too.  I guess there was moments where I thought I was going to die, but we eventually got off safely at our destination and I guess it was a pretty fun experience.  It was pretty much real life Mario Kart.  So yep, I am just living the life here in Mexico, thanks for all of your prayers which is probably the only thing helping me survive.

Anyways, this week was also really exciting because my kid (Elder Moody) had his first baptism and he got to baptize!! We were so happy and made sure everything was all prepared and ready beforehand so we didn´t have any water problems! Everything went very smooth, Elder Moody and I did our special musical number singing and on the guitar and it was a beautiful baptism for Gabriela Verdusco.  Her whole family showed us as well who have been pretty inactive for a while, but I know they felt the Spirit strongly as well.  We were also really blessed and happy because our investigator Karina came and loved it a lot, and President Mann was there to support us too!! The member who has been helping us with Tiffany, Diana was also a huge help showing Karina around the church and helping her feel comfortable.  At the end of the service, Karina said the last prayer and did an awesome job!! So it was a very special baptism and confirmation for Gabi and the Verdusco family this week, who I love so much. We also had the great opportunity of going to the visitor´s center in the temple with Karina this week which was very special as well.  She always mentions to us that she just feels so happy and feels "the presence of God" whenever she is with us or goes to these activites.  The only downside with her is that we talked to her on Sunday about baptism again and she said that she personally wants to get baptized, but after talking to her parents, who are very Catholic, she doesn´t think it will be possible right now... It is hard because the Gospel of Jesus Christ isn´t meant to tear families apart, rather bring them together, and even though she is already 23 and can make her own decisions, you always have to respect your parents as well... We are hoping to meet her parents soon and hoping and praying as well that the Lord will soften her heart.  As for Tiffany, she got pretty sick and we haven´t been able to see her this week, but we did find another awesome family we will start teaching soon and I think they will progress really well! (Maira, Vanessa, and Dylan.)  It is sad sometimes when your investigators don´t seem to progress exactly how you thought they would (like Karina and Tiffany) but that is why it is always a constant search to find the other chosen and "lost sheep".  So even though we´ve had some pretty tough situations with our investigators lately, we are working hard to continue looking for the people who are waiting for us.  I love this work and I know it is the work of the Lord.  

Well as for other things that happened this week, we played beer pong (with orange soda) in our district meeting with a fun little twist to relate to the missionary work- our district leader, Elder Diuguid, is awesome. We also had some good tacos, the Abundes Family made my mom´s mint brownies (which honestly didn´t turn out as good as my mom´s unfortunately), retried some chicken alfredo which turned out a little better this time, and became a trompo master.  Yes, trompos are these little tops they have here that you throw them and can do tricks and they are super fun... It is kind of like a bey blade manually launched but they are sweet and I´m pretty sure they only exist here but I am getting pretty good at them.  I love the people here and all the traditions they have.  And lastly, I officially completed 18 months in the mission this week which is honestly pretty crazy, and pretty soon I will only have 5 more months to go... Ugh the time is going by wayy too fast.  Well love and miss you all, thanks for everything you always do for me and I look forward to hearing from you next week!.

Elder Clark